
Live Nation Entertainment announced Thursday that Heather Parry will leave the company following a Variety investigation into allegations of workplace bullying.
Parry ran Live Nation Productions, the TV and film arm of the touring conglomerate, for three years. In December, Variety reported that Live Nation’s human resources department had been repeatedly warned that Parry was verbally abusing her subordinates. Parry also was accused of using offensive slurs in the office and denigrating African-Americans. She denied ever using discriminatory language, and apologized for any hurt she may have caused, saying it was unintentional.
Parry was put on leave on Dec. 21, as Live Nation hired an outside firm, Paul Hastings LLP, to conduct an investigation. The investigator, Elena Baca, interviewed numerous current and former employees, who in many cases restated allegations they had already made to the company’s HR department. Baca also seemed intent on ferreting out leakers, asking several employees to identify who had recorded an internal meeting and who had hijacked the company’s Twitter feed to attack Parry and CEO Michael Rapino.
Related Stories
VIP+Emmys Rebound Bolsters 2024 Awards Show Ratings

'The Simpsons' Aired Its 'Series Finale' on Sunday Night — but Don't Worry, That Wasn't Really the Last Episode
“Heather Parry will be leaving Live Nation, effective immediately,” the company said in a statement. “Live Nation is committed to the Live Nation Productions division and to our pipeline of artist-driven projects which will be led moving forward by current executives Ryan Kroft, Matt Stein, and Chad Wasser.”
Popular on Variety
The company added that its internal investigation did not substantiate the claim that Parry made homophobic or racist remarks.
“The investigation did not validate claims that Ms. Parry is racist or homophobic however, the work environment Ms. Parry created did not meet our expectation of leadership,” a company spokesperson said.
In her own statement, Parry said she was “grateful” that the internal investigation found she did not make discriminatory statements.
“Being accused in the media of something I’m not has been incredibly painful,” she said, adding that her “passion” for music, TV and film have caused her to be “relentless, because nothing of great value ever comes easy.”
“As a boss, I’m tough and brutally honest, and through this process I have learned how I can go about being not only a more effective leader but a better person,” she said. “I am humbled and will grow from this experience, and I look forward to continuing my career as an independent producer.”
Parry came to Live Nation after a decade as an executive at Happy Madison Productions, Adam Sandler’s company. Variety interviewed 23 former employees of Live Nation and Happy Madison, most of whom declined to give their names. One former Live Nation employee, Wynn Wygal, described Parry as an “emotional terrorist.”
“On multiple occasions I had colleagues come to me distressed and often crying about how Heather had treated them that day,” Wygal said.
Another Live Nation employee, Joseph Shepherd, said that he heard Parry use the words “f–got” and “c–t.” Shepherd also said that Parry once became frustrated with an African-American employee, and said, “Black people, you can’t count on them for anything.” A former assistant also said that Parry threw a bulky iPhone charger at her, which a second employee corroborated. Parry denied the incident through her attorney.
Other former assistants said she would berate them for minor slip-ups, and that she would often call at odd hours with extreme demands.
“I think she is the embodiment of everything that is wrong with the entertainment industry,” said Eric Lucht, one of Parry’s ex-assistants at Happy Madison.
Parry’s exit leaves several high-profile projects in limbo — including a David Bowie IMAX experience and a Dave Grohl-blessed TV series about the moms who raised rock stars.
Read More About:
Jump to CommentsMore from Variety

Was Abraham Lincoln Queer? A New Docu, ‘Lover of Men’ Makes a Compelling Case That He Was

New Live Music Data Suggests Cautious Optimism

Steve Pink’s TIFF Documentary ‘The Last Republican’ Tackles the Need for Civil Discourse With a Healthy Dose of Humor

Documentary Festival IDFA to Fete Belgian Artist, Filmmaker Johan Grimonprez

Generative AI Fueling ‘Exponential’ Rise in Celebrity NIL Rip-Offs: Exclusive Data

How Toronto Documentaries Use Innovative Methods to Reach New Audiences: ‘You Need a Different Lens’
Most Popular
Luke Bryan Reacts to Beyoncé’s CMA Awards Snub: ‘If You’re Gonna Make Country Albums, Come Into Our World and Be Country With…

Donald Glover Cancels 2024 Childish Gambino Tour Dates After Hospitalization: ‘I Have Surgery Scheduled and Need Time Out to Heal’

‘Joker 2’ Ending: Was That a ‘Dark Knight’ Connection? Explaining What’s Next for Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker

‘Love Is Blind' Creator Reveals Why They Didn’t Follow Leo and Brittany After Pods, if They'll Be at Reunion (EXCLUSIVE)

Rosie O'Donnell on Becoming a 'Big Sister' to the Menendez Brothers, Believes They Could Be Released From Prison in the ‘Next 30 Days’

‘That ’90s Show’ Canceled After Two Seasons on Netflix, Kurtwood Smith Says: ‘We Will Shop the Show’

Have We Reached Ryan Murphy Overload?

Dakota Fanning Got Asked ‘Super-Inappropriate Questions’ as a Child Actor Like ‘How Could You Have Any Friends?’ and Can ‘You Avoid Being a Tabloid…

Why Critically Panned ‘Joker 2’ Could Still Be in the Awards Race for Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix

Coldplay’s Chris Martin Says Playing With Michael J. Fox at Glastonbury Was ‘So Trippy’: ‘Like Being 7 and Being in Heaven…

Must Read
- Film
COVER | Sebastian Stan Tells All: Becoming Donald Trump and Starring in 2024’s Most Controversial Movie
By Andrew Wallenstein 2 weeks
- TV
Menendez Family Slams Netflix’s ‘Monsters’ as ‘Grotesque’ and ‘Riddled With Mistruths’: ‘The Character Assassination of Erik and Lyke Is Repulsive…

- TV
‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Part 2 to Air on CBS After Paramount Network Debut

- TV
50 Cent Sets Diddy Abuse Allegations Docuseries at Netflix: ‘It’s a Complex Narrative Spanning Decades’ (EXCLUSIVE)

- Shopping
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Sets Digital and Blu-ray/DVD Release Dates

Sign Up for Variety Newsletters
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.Variety Confidential
ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9nfXKFjp%2BgpaVfo7K4v46hnJqsmJq%2FbrzAq6myZZaev6awjKWgr51do661tc6nZKmqn5nCpMDIqKWsZWFnfXR9kGtocGpf